The articles of incorporation for the Copper Country Dairy was signed on November 25, 1938 by nine dairy farmers in the Traprock River Valley including Erick Karvakko, Oiva W. Niemi, Matt Koski, John Latva, Albert Koskela, Emil Waarala, Edward R. Willmers, Andrew Bylkas, and Charles Aittama. The Dairy purchased the Schulte Brothers Store in Dollar Bay in 1939 where it continued operations until it moved into a more modern building in Dollar Bay in 1954. The dairy experienced the beginning of a long line of financial problems in 1977. The Copper Country Dairy claimed that its prices were being undercut by three large national dairies-Hawthorne-Melody, Fremont Foods, and Borden. A lawsuit was filed against the three major dairies by Hancock attorney, Andrew Wisti. The dairy’s problems continued in 1979 when the members of the Copper Country Dairy Employees Association went on strike. The wage dispute lasted from November 2 through November 14. In 1984 the dairy could no longer afford to pay its producers and fifty-sixty of its producers pulled out of the cooperative that year. It was due to the loss of so many of its producers that the Copper Country Dairy lost its license and bonding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture that same year. The Copper Country Dairy also did not have a permit for discharging its waste into a lagoon behind the dairy nor did it have a permit to haul its whey waste for application to agricultural fields. In July, 1985 the Dairy was managed by Dr. Jack McEowen, head of the Emergency Management Assistance Team for Agri-Business of the Cooperative Extension Office. The Copper Country Dairy ended operations on September 24, 1985 and filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on September 30, 1985 at the Marquette Bankruptcy Court (Superior Signal, 2007, 3-5).